The qualitative benefits

Fact is, the tools of the sales trade have evolved. In the ‘60s and ‘70s, customer databases meant the rolodex. It was the bible for sales reps across the world, but it also had an element of risk; a high-performing rep could walk out with their rolodex (and all the information about your clients). When businesses shifted to digital, spreadsheets and emails held crucial data about pipelines and lead lists.

Both spreadsheets and emails have changed the way we do business—no contention there. But they’re not the tools you want for managing relationships with your customers.

When you want instant information about that call last Wednesday with John Barney, you can’t afford to rummage through sticky notes and Post-its. Or if you have to quickly go back to that email from 2 months ago, good luck with the Sent folder.

The CRM system is unique because it’s a software solution built for one demographic—your sales teams. And that’s why it’s the best tool for building lasting relationships with your customers.

✓ Instant insights into your customers: Your interactions with the customer (and their interactions with your website/product) are captured in a chronological timeline.

✓ Creating a close-knit team: Because data is on the cloud, all your team members can share conversations and sales information in real time. This results in greater context, better communication, and a well-informed business.

The CRM system can also do something about salespeople spending only 35.9% of their time selling. Imagine—just over a quarter of sales time spent selling, with the rest going into a black hole of mundane tasks like data entry, sending the same emails again and again, and figuring out if a lead is hot or cold.

By automating repetitive actions through workflows, CRMs do the grunt work while reps can focus on making calls, engaging in intelligent conversations and personalizing the sale.

Investing in a CRM

So how much should you pay for a CRM system?

It depends.

The size of your sales team, the type of your business, and what you want to get out of the CRM—all these are decisive factors. There are free CRM software too, which give you a bundle of features at zero cost, forever.